Young Blood
by Yuusha no Tamashii
Summary: "What are you afraid of? You want to see the world, don't you?" the freckled boy extended a hand towards her. "Come see it with me!" And then she realized what he reminded her of-the sun. AceXOC


**Author's Note: **I'm so horrible. I kept telling myself that I wouldn't start posting this story until I'm finished with my Shaman King story and after I have saved at least ten chapters for this story. It turns out that I barely have three chapters right now, but I'm going to post it anyway.

Well, this is my first One Piece fanfic ever and to be honest, I'm a little nervous because I'm not really up-to-date with the series. I'll try my best not to ruin OP's canon storyline that much.

The story is mainly One Piece and crosses over with a certain series of Disney movies. It might sound a little ridiculous, but if you've read my other stories before, you know how I like that kind of stuff, hehe. If anything gets confusion, please leave me a review and I'll try to be more descriptive in the future chapters!

**Young Blood**

**Chapter 01**

**Open Your Window, Open Your Door**

The day starts out like this: clean every visible and hidden space in the third floor, then clean every visible and hidden space in the second floor, then do the same for the first floor. Glass needs extra care because any trace of fingerprint on them is unacceptable. The cement in between tiles need special attention since mold can grow easily. Then, after the interior of the mansion, the exterior also needs to be cleaned. And after all that, there's also the backyard, front yard, garden, pool, fountain, and all the fancy carriages that the master owns. And when everything's done, do them all over again to make sure everything is spotless.

That would basically sum up Aura's everyday life.

Aura had been a slave in the Outlooks' mansion for about three years. In these three years, Aura only felt a few things: dirt, mold, water, soap, the handle of her broom, and pain from Master Outlook's cane or Madam Outlook's porcelain cups or Master Stelly's fists. There wasn't much of anything else in Aura's life, but when she thought about it, she would be considered lucky. Most of the other slaves that came to the Outlook's mansion at the same time as her had died already. Not by natural causes, of course.

Aura was currently the one and only slave in the Outlooks' mansion. It was, of course, tiresome to do everything by herself, but she wouldn't wish for even her worst enemy to become a slave in this mansion. There was a rumor going around that the Outlooks' reputation was taking a tumble because of their rebellious, and most of their anger was turned onto the slaves. Each year, the death rate of the Outlooks' slaves increases.

Secretly, she wondered when will it be her turn.

"I heard that you found Sabo! Great news!"

"Hahaha! Yes, thank you!"

Aura was trimming the plants in the garden when she overheard her master and the nobleman from next door talking at the front gate. Out of curiosity, she peeked through the bushes. There was a boy who looked slightly taller than Master Stelly. He had short blonde hair and wore a funny looking top hat. However, that was all she could see since he was facing the other way. It was easily assumable that the boy was Master Outlook's missing son. Aura took a mental note of the name; she was going to have an additional master, it seems.

* * *

"Who are you?"

Aura stood at the doorway to Sabo's room, looking down at her feet. She held out the broom in her hands a little bit forward to show that she was here to clean. Looking at your master in the eyes was strictly not allowed.

Sabo looked at the young girl up and down. She seemed to be around the same age as him, but was dirty and wore nothing but what looked like a potato sack that was too big on her.

"Are you… a…" _Slave?_

Sabo could not bring himself to say the word that he had in mind, but Aura understood. She nodded.

_But she looks about my age. _An angry look surfaced on Sabo's face. _The nobles here are still as rotten as ever. _

"You don't have to clean here; I won't ask you to do anything for me."

Aura chewed on her bottom lip. Her face looked troubled. In fact, she thought her new master was a little bit weird. He wasn't like the others in this mansion. The way he curled up with his face hidden in between his knees next to the foot of his bed was very unlike Master Outlook and Master Stelly, who always walked around with large strides. But there was something else that was really bothering her.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Sabo approached the girl who just stood there strangely. She seemed like she wanted to do something, but was hesitating.

"Please forgive me, Master!"

Sabo barely heard what the girl muttered before she took a step into his room and walked past him quickly. He watched her with confusion as she went to the big window and pulled the curtains apart. The sunlight coming in suddenly hurt his eyes for an instant, and the girl had already pushed the window open. A blast of fresh air filled the room.

"Condensation will gather at the windowsill through the night," Aura continued to mutter while wiping the windowsill with a towel. "When the moisture keeps experience cold and hot air, mold will start growing… so you gotta open the window sometimes to ventilate…"

Sabo blinked at the little girl. "Um… thanks?"

Aura said nothing in response and quickly walked toward the door. However, Sabo grabbed onto her arm as she passed by him, and by doing so he felt her body twitch.

"I'm not going to beat you!" he said as he instantly understood her reaction, "Hey… what's your name?"

"…It's Aura…" she said, still looking down.

"…Aura?"

She nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Aura," Sabo said with a bright smile. "My name is Sabo."

Aura did not want to look at the boy, but something compelled her to do so. Master Sabo had round eyes like the breakfast rolls that Master Stelly never finishes, and a really big smile that's missing a tooth. The dirty clothes that he wore before was thrown out earlier; she saw them in the trash. He was now put in clothes that look like Master Stelly's. She was glad that Master Sabo was clean now, but somehow she thought that the style did not suit him well.

"How old are you?" asked Sabo.

Aura chewed on her bottom lips again, and looked around anxiously. She wasn't allowed to talk to any of her masters. But she never had such an urge to talk to anyone, since her masters only called her names and swore at her. This Master Sabo was different. He gave off a different kind of vibe from her masters and even all of the other nobles that come to visit the Outlooks.

Sabo seemed to have noticed her unease. Just like how Aura strutted toward the windows, Sabo raised his chin and walked toward the door, then shutting the door. He came back to Aura with a mischievous smile, "You can talk now!"

"…I'm ten." Aura said shortly.

"Ten?!" Sabo took in a big breath. "That's the same age as me! I can't believe that they'd even enslave children… That's too cruel! I'm sorry… that my family has…"

Aura shook her head. Master Sabo was a lot nicer than Master Stelly. She was supposed to hate her masters, but something about his sincerity made her feel almost embarrassed.

"Listen," Sabo grabbed Aura by the shoulders, which startled her so much that she almost wacked him with her broomstick. But she did not perform the act when she saw the seriousness in the young boy's eyes. "I've got friends—brothers—out there! In the Gray Terminal! I heard from Stelly that they're going to burn that place down… I've gotta get out of here and let my brothers and the others in the Gray Terminal know or they'll die!"

Aura blinked at the boy; she did not know what the Gray Terminal was nor about the planned burning of it, but he looked deadly serious about getting out of the mansion. She understood that he probably cared about his friends a lot, but she felt remorse not being able to help. She has never, in these past three years, left the Outlooks vicinity even once.

"I…" she looked down and bit on her lips while mumbling, "I cannot help you… I have not been out of this place since I first stepped in…"

"We can escape together!" Sabo pressed on. "Through the window… it's impossible to get down five stories without a rope, and I don't have enough sheets and curtains to tie together. You can get those things, right? You must have access to the laundry room!"

"I cannot help you, Master Sabo!" Aura raised her voice slightly to get her point across, but not too much as to anger the boy or to be heard by her other masters in the mansion.

Sabo loosened his grip on Aura's shoulders. A disappointed expression clearly plastered across his face, but he did not plead her anymore. He understood that she was probably too scared. If his parents found out that she stole bed sheets from the laundry room, the punishment would be severe. And if their escape was unsuccessful, he could not even imagine what they would do to an escaping slave.

"Okay, I will do this on my own, but…" he looked at her with sympathy and conviction. "Aura, I will help you escape. It may not be now, but one day I'll get you out of here. I promise!"

Aura was bewildered that Sabo gave her such a promise. They had only just met and barely exchanged a few words. Years later, she would laugh at her ten-year-old self for being so simple-minded, but at that moment, she was truly touched. Even if he only said it out his disgust toward the nobles, even if there was very little accountability in the promise of a ten-year-old boy, Aura felt something that she'd never felt before in the Outlooks' mansion—hope.

The sunlight that shined through the open curtains and windows behind Sabo now showered over the young boy. It made his big smile and blonde hair almost too bright for Aura's eyes.

But she could not look away.

* * *

To Be Continued


End file.
